New member! Newish bird owner!

[BirDymama]

Hi all, new member here! Bit of background... I'm quite new to owning birds. I recently adopted an Alexandrine male. Unsure of his age, as he was a rescue but they think he is around 5 years old.

I'm looking for recommendations for feed. He doesn't like fruit and veggies, so I'm worried he isn't getting the right nutrients. Where I got him from, they had him on a seed mix and from my research that isn't all too great for him!

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[clark_conure]

Honestly I don't know, I've never had one.....but if you have a picture I'd love to gaze upon your new bird.....

 

[wrench13]

Just make any changes to diet a gradual one, over the period of many weeks and even months. Parrots will starve themselves if abruptly changed to a diet they dont like or are unfamiliar with. This is critical ! Pellets can also be introduced and there are a lot of choices for that, some great brands and some not so much, but the best pellet is one that your bird will actually eat. You can get the best one but if he refuses to eat it, it does you no good.

 

[ravvlet]

Ditto to what Salty said - sometimes they won't even even a different flavor/formulation of the same pellet. Birds weigh so little and have such speedy metabolisms that this can become a crisis quickly. Food changes should always be gradual, and be accompanied by daily weigh-ins at the same time, using a kitchen food scale that measures to 1/10 of a gram.

 

[Free as a bird]

Hi all, new member here! Bit of background... I'm quite new to owning birds. I recently adopted an Alexandrine male. Unsure of his age, as he was a rescue but they think he is around 5 years old.

I'm looking for recommendations for feed. He doesn't like fruit and veggies, so I'm worried he isn't getting the right nutrients. Where I got him from, they had him on a seed mix and from my research that isn't all too great for him!

Thanks in advance everyone!

I always look at what that species of bird eats in the wild. Yours is a kind of ringneck, seed is there main food in the wild, they have a special beak made for dehusking seeds.

This claim that seeds are no good for seed eating birds is unfounded in my experience and I wonder what drives this misinformation, maybe the pallet manufacturers, who knows but one thing is for sure seeds are not bad for a seed eating bird, there better than pellets in my opinion. Unprocessed and natural.

 

[Terry57]

Welcome to the forum!
I also have an Alex, he is 21 now. When he came to me he was only eating seeds, and they had an especially high ratio of sunflower and safflower seeds. It took time, but after working with him for several months on his diet, he now eats far more chop than he does seeds. He also loves his pellets.
The best advice i can give is to never give up! One of my birds took 10 years to decide to eat chop, and now he is one of the most voracious eaters

As mentioned by other members, the key is doing it gradually. We started Xander with kale leaves we wove through the bars of his cage, and once he decided to tear them up he actually ate a few chunks. From there, he was interested in the chop in his bowl, but only if I added chopped kale to it. In eating the kale he also got chunks of other goodies that he decided weren't too bad.

One thing that every single bird I have love are pomegranate seeds. Xander likes a quarter of one where he can pick the seeds out himself.

I'd love to see pictures of your boy!